Organizing Business Cards

C'mon, admit it… you probably have a stack of rubber-banded business cards in a drawer someplace. These tiny pieces of paper are packed with useful information, so it can be hard to throw them away. Ask yourself these 3 questions to find out your best strategy:

1. Are you a digital person, or do you prefer keeping business cards in paper format? I'll cover paper solutions below, but if you prefer digital, it's a good idea to enter all of your contacts into an application that can synchronize with your phone, such as Google Contacts or Outlook. You can have your information with you everywhere you go, and it will be backed up too, unlike a lost paper address book where there is no way to recover it.

More From Good Housekeeping

2. How many business cards do you have to manage?

If you don't have very many: If you prefer cards in a paper format, it is relatively easy to manage a small number of them. You can either hand-write the information into a traditional address book or use a card file system, a Rolodex, or a business card book. If you go digital, you can simply enter them into your system.

If you have a bunch:You probably need to choose a digital system, and you might also consider having a scanner like CardScan. These work surprisingly well, and there are also apps for your smartphone which accomplish the same task using your camera! Some of these solutions allow you to retain an image view of the card itself, if you enjoy seeing the visual elements of colors and logos.

3. Why are you collecting them? More importantly than how you store them, you need to make sure you have a system for taking action on cards that you receive. If you are in business, you may want to consider a "Customer Relationship Manager" (CRM) program like Sage ACT! or Salesforce.com. For home needs, you can use the paper cards to trigger you as a reminder until you get the task on your to-do list and the information into your system of choice. If you have a project like remodeling or a big event, a business card book as mentioned above is a great way to keep the cards handy as you reference them frequently.

If you have a backlog of cards, consider having one of your children or a responsible neighborhood teen enter them into your system for just a few dollars per hour, and then make sure you have a process ongoing to manage the new ones. We recommend having an office day once a week to handle bills, mail, and just this type of quick desk work. It takes only a few seconds per card if you make it a priority. Don't let the rubber-banded stacks multiply again!